Research interests

• Behavioural ecology
• Sensory ecology 
• Tropical biology
• Influence of urbanization on species composition and activity patterns
• Conservation
• Bats

 

 

Scientific projects

In times of rapid human population growth, accompanied by rampant habitat change knowledge of species potential to tolerate anthropogenically altered environments is essential for conservation efforts. Aerial insectivorous bat species are highly mobile animals and swift flyers which react quickly to changing environmental conditions. So far these species were considered to be less affected by urbanisation than less mobile taxa.

I am using acoustic monitoring to investigate the composition, dynamics and activity of high flying aerial insectivorous bats in Panama. The different acoustic monitoring sites of my current project are distributed along a strong anthropogenic gradient from mature forest to the heavily populated Panama City. On this regional scale I am assessing if species composition and activity of bats differ between sites and how factors as artificial light and insect availability influence the assemblage and species activity patterns. Furthermore I am assessing short-term (e. g., moon phase) and long term (season) effects on abundance and activity patterns of aerial insectivorous bats in mature forest versus urban areas.

Additionally, to pin point factors which are of prime importance for species presence in an anthropogenically influenced region I am focusing at a local scale on a small urban settlement which is surrounded by a large tract of continuous forest. I am especially interested in which species might adapt to possible advantages of anthropogenic influence e.g. street lights which accumulate large amounts of insects or houses which serve as additional roosting sites.

Publications

Jung K. &  Kalko E.K.V.(2011) Adaptability and vulnerability of high flying Neotropical aerial insectivorous bats to urbanization. Diversity and Distributions, 17(2): 262–274. 

Meyer CFJ, Aguiar LMS, Aguirre LF, Baumgarten J, Clarke, FM, Cosson J-F, Estrada Villegas S, Fahr J,  Faria D, Furey N, Henry M, Hodgkison R, Jenkins RKB, Jung KG, Kingston T, Kunz TH, MacSwiney Gonzalez MC, Patterson BD, Pons J-M, Racey PA, Rex K, Sampaio EM, Solari S, Stoner KE,  Voigt CC, Staden v.D, Weise CD, Kalko EKV (2011) Accounting for detectability improves estimates of species richness in tropical bat surveys. Journal of Applied Ecology DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2011.01976.x

Meyer CFJ, Aguiar LMS, Aguirre LF, Baumgarten J, Clarke FM, Cosson J-F, Estrada Villegas S, Fahr J, Faria D, Furey NM, Henry M, Hodgkison R, Jenkins RKB, Jung KG, Kingston T, Kunz TH, MacSwiney Gonzalez MC, Moya IM, Pons J-M, Racey PA, Rex K, Sampaio EM, Stoner KE, Voigt CC, Staden Dv, Weise CD, Kalko EKV (2010) Long-term monitoring of tropical bats for anthropogenic impact assessment: gauging the statistical power to detect population change. Biol Conserv 143:2797–2807

Jung, K. & Kalko, E.K.V. (2010) Where forest meets urbanization: foraging plasticity of aerial insectivorous bats in an anthropogenically altered environment. Journal of Mammalogy 91:144-153

Jung K, Kalko EKV, von Helversen O (2007) Echolocation calls in Central American emballonurid bats: signal design and call frequency alternation. J Zool (Lond) 272: 125-137

Conference contributions

Jung K, Kalko EKV (2010) Adaptability of Neotropical aerial insectivorous bats to urbanization. Talk and Poster presented at the 15th International Bat Research Conference, 23.-27. August 2010, Prague, Czech Republic

Jung K, Kaiser S, Böhm S, Nieschulze J, Schulze E-D, Kalko EKV (2010) Structural heterogeneity affects bats occurrence and activity in Central European forest stands. Talk presented at the 15th International Bat Research Conference, 23.-27. August 2010, Prague, Czech Republic

Jung K (2009) Bats in the city: effects of urbanization on species richness, composition and activity of Neotropical aerial insectivores. Poster presented at the Joint Meeting of Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) & Society for Tropical Ecology (gtö), Marburg, 27.-30. July 2009, Marburg

Jung K, Kalko EKV (2007) Above concrete and tree canopies: a comparison between high flying insectivorous bats in urban areas versus mature forest in Panamá using acoustic monitoring. Talk presented at the 14^th International Bat Research Conference (IBRC) and the North American Symposium on Bat Research (NASBR), Merida, Mexico

Jung K, Kalko EKV (2007) Composition and dynamics in a Panamanian aerial insectivorous bat assemblage:  activity and microhabitat choice around street lights. Talk presented at the 20^th Annual Meeting of the Society for Tropical Ecology, Bonn, Germany

Jung K, Kalko EKV, von Helversen O (2004) Variability in echolocation call design and frequency distribution in eight species of sheath-tailed bats (Emballonuridae) in Central America. Poster presented at the 17^th Annual Meeting of the Society for Tropical Ecology, Bayreuth, Germany